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Table 3 Phonetic characteristics of nonwords used in Experiments 2-4

From: Remembering that big things sound big: Sound symbolism and associative memory

 

Large nonwords

Small nonwords

 

Mean

SD

Mean

SD

p value

Number of vowels

1.64

0.50

2.07

0.92

0.14

Proportion “large” vowels

0.86

0.23

0.00

0.00

<0.001

Proportion “small” vowels

0.00

0.00

0.74

0.29

<0.001

Number of consonants

3.07

0.62

2.50

0.76

<0.001

Proportion voiced consonants

0.68

0.35

0.60

0.32

0.54

Proportion unvoiced consonants

0.32

0.35

0.40

0.32

0.54

Proportion plosives

0.46

0.13

0.20

0.22

0.001

Proportion fricatives

0.14

0.20

0.41

0.37

0.03

Proportion affricates

0.02

0.09

0.02

0.09

>0.99

Proportion nasals

0.12

0.18

0.12

0.20

0.94

Proportion approximants

0.24

0.17

0.25

0.20

0.93

Proportion consonant clusters

0.32

0.24

0.14

0.16

0.03

Proportion vowel clusters

0.07

0.18

0.07

0.18

>0.99

Onset position voiced consonants

0.27

0.16

0.09

0.15

0.006

Onset position unvoiced consonants

0.05

0.12

0.08

0.17

0.53

Onset position plosives

0.20

0.16

0.02

0.09

0.001

Onset position fricatives

0.09

0.19

0.10

0.17

0.93

Onset position affricates

0.02

0.09

0.00

0.00

0.33

Onset position nasals

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.09

0.33

Onset position approximants

0.00

0.00

0.02

0.09

0.33

Onset position consonant clusters

0.15

0.16

0.07

0.14

0.18

Onset position vowel clusters

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

n/a

  1. Note: consonants were defined at the phonemic not orthographic level (e.g.,/ch/was counted as a single consonant). n.a. not applicable